Letters to the Editor — December 6, 2012

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Posted Dec. 6, 2012 at 3:15 AM

Posted Dec. 6, 2012 at 3:15 AM

To the Editor:

I would like to thank all of the voters that supported me with their vote for County Commissioner. Special thanks to those that contributed money, time, displayed a sign, went door-to-door, and a big thank you to everyone that held signs on Election Day!

Although I did not get reelected as your Commissioner, the achievements and endeavors I supported will hopefully endure: the efforts to keep the Domestic Violence Unit were successful, the County’s credit outlook was improved, UNH Cooperative Extension and 4-H funding was restored, and Riverside Rest Home received the highest possible rating of five stars! In addition, Strafford County has the first Family Justice Center in NH and budgets were below the tax-cap!

While serving, my focus is on delivering quality services and I have utmost respect for the employees at the County, they are tops. My concern will remain with optimizing county services and the projected need for the Veterans Residence Home and Cocheco Valley Humane Society projects. It is and has been a pleasure to serve as your Strafford County Commissioner. Once again, my heartfelt thanks to you.

Catherine Cheney

County Commissioner and City Councilor,

Dover

To the Editor:

Today, Nov. 27, I watched the Republican reaction to the interviews of Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice by Senators Lindsay Graham, John McCain and Kelly Ayotte. These interviews were in response to the political attack by these senators on her early reporting of the CIA unclassified assessment of the Benghazi attack.

Initially, in concert with the riots in Egypt in reaction to a film objectionable to Muslims, the unclassified CIA report that Rice used said that preliminary estimates were that it was likely a similar attack in Benghazi that was then joined by a terrorist attack. Whereas the CIA was conducting activities in Benghazi related to terrorism, the CIA preferred to not mention terrorism related to Al Qaida that would expose their presence.

Senator Ayotte chose to ally herself with the extreme interpretation of Rice’s reportage as a ‘Cover-up’ to hide what is claimed to be (by John McCain) Al Qaida resurgence and a failure of the Obama efforts. This was imagined to be a cover-up linked to the 2012 election. McCain has long sought revenge on Obama for losing to him in 2008 by opposing him at every turn. Ambassador Rice is apparently seen as another opportunity to indirectly attack Obama. That Senator Ayotte would join such a vendetta speaks to either incredible naïveté or to her unbridled ambition within the Republican party. After all, she was even flattered to be considered a vice presidential prospect.

In my opinion she has embarrassed New Hampshire by her vicious insinuations in her statements today.

Hiram Connell

Somersworth

To the Editor:

Economists and politicians nervously anticipate the coming “fiscal cliff”. They are like a bunch of kayakers on a big strange river caught in an increasing current, eyeing the straight horizon downstream where the river vanishes. For the rest of us this cliff is a bit too distant to get excited about; as if we’re watching these foolish kayakers on TV. Besides, they have paddles: Why don’t they use them!

My personal cliff happened in 2008 when at age 64 my employer, Prime Tanning — leather manufacturers — went out of business. It is hard for people in their 50s and 60s to get a job and nearly impossible to get one with decent healthcare benefits: like aging cars, we require ever more maintenance. Lucky for me, I was only three months away from being eligible for Medicare! Raising the eligibility age for Medicare or making it more costly for future seniors will sharply increase poverty among seniors and hurt the economy.

As a Democrat, I resent being called “an extremist in my party” by “moderates” for urging politicians not to use Medicare cuts to resolve the “fiscal cliff” issue. Nobody expects any fiscal cliff to be as great a disaster as the 2008 financial melt-down. Besides, the solution to any future Medicare shortfalls isn’t rocket science

Medicare is a perfect candidate for receiving more revenue. It is far more cost effective than the rest of our healthcare system, but its revenues have only gone up with wages, far slower than healthcare costs. It is fully supported by a 1.45 percent payroll tax on both employers and employees. This rate hasn’t gone up in recent memory, even though other healthcare insurance rates have sky-rocketed. Raising this rate to 1.89 percent will mean a 30 percent increase in Medicare’s revenues, more than enough to “save” it intact, instead of slowly gutting it.

Ernst Ketel

Rochester

To the Editor:

The United States of America is indeed the “Land of the Free.” The U.S. affords us freedoms not known to the majority of other nations. Some of the countless freedoms include: Free speech, right to assemble, freedom of worship, right to bear arms, right to privacy, right to vote in free elections and freedom of choice. We even have a free market enterprise system for all to participate.

We are furthermore free (with specific minimum age requirements) to: cultivate a two-pack-a-day cigarette smoking habit, consume copious amounts of rot-gut whiskey on a regular basis or maintain a steady diet of fast food and soda beverages. The manufacturers of these pleasures are also free to produce and satisfy the demand while obtaining handsome profits. No law-abiding American citizen or enterprise should be denied these freedoms.

However, exercising the aforementioned freedoms calls for personal and social responsibility, so the freedoms of a few don’t make slaves of the majority. The general public is currently being held hostage by a broken health care “system.”

I have demonstrated, in previous letters, that health care is national security and we are plain unhealthy despite having the best medical capability in the world. We spend 17 percent (approx. $2.5 trillion) of our GDP on healthcare with the said dismal results, which is not healthy for our economy. We discovered that lifestyle related diseases and health insurance companies may be the two leading root causes of our health care woes. It is reported that at least 70 percent of that $2.5 trillion spent annually can be attributed to lifestyle.

According to the Center for Disease Control, an estimated 45.3 million Americans smoke cigarettes. The National Library of medicine says that around 17.6 million adults in the United States are alcoholics or have alcohol problems. The CDC also reports that more than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7 percent) are obese.

As we continue to discuss health care reform, we need to remind ourselves, as the bumper sticker says, “Freedom is not free.” We must respectfully demand social and personal responsibility from the suppliers and demanders for the vices they produce and consume respectively.

Wayne H. Merritt

Dover

To the Editor:

I just wanted to thank everyone who helped out today with donations and labor to make the breakfast the most successful it’s ever been. Our profit was $650! That is more than double of years past. Thanks to all who passed it on and told their friends.